Tag: Ted Hughes

Day 97: Whistling ThistlesOh my goodness and begorrah I fell in love with this pink haired, bristle faced thistle of a fellow on Wormwood Scrubs. I could swear I heard him whistle and leer with all the innocence of a furry faced Sesame Street monster. I am loving my attention to nature on this journey of awe, I am more alert to and conscious of the rhythms of the seasons. I think I must previously have operated with an underlying assumption that noticing something was an arbitary, random event that coincided with a moment of lucidity, this clarity of seeing for a moment accompanied with an incipient guilt that I had been elsewhere, zoned out, not paying attention. Now I just know I am privy to the petals of nature’s unfolding and whether what I am seeing has been there for awhile or not is neither here nor there. I just receive what I am seeing with childlike delight and out comes my phone for a snap. That distinction is an extraordinary realisation that completely changes my experience and pleasure of life. Stepping away from that inner judge and critic I can feel the tapestry of the seasons taking shape in front of me, my curiosity filling in the finer details. The choice to seek out awe for 100 days is changing my relationship to myself. I could go back to my old relationship but why would I want that when joy, inspiration and poetry is there just waiting to be received.

Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men
Thistles spike the summer air
And crackle open under a blue-black pressure.

Every one a revengeful burst
Of resurrection, a grasphed fistful
Of splintered weapons and Icelandic frost thrust up

From the underground stain of a decayed Viking.
They are like pale hair and the gutturals of dialects.
Every one manages a plume of blood.

Then they grow grey like men.
Mown down, it is a feud. Their sons appear
Stiff with weapons, fighting back over the same ground.100 Days of Awe is a playful project I set up to bring my attention to awe in my daily life. I see awe as wonder, a mixture of amazement and respect. I expect the experience of awe to be about perception shifting awareness and that demands a reframing of some sort. I am excited to see what will awe me on this journey.

Anne K. Scott is an imagination technologist, her work to teach, facilitate and deliver innovation for individuals and business. She is the creator of FindYourMojo a FREE iPHone productivity app. If you are interested in what intuitive coaching can do for you or your business please do contact me. I support clients all over the world.